DarcyxRivenxMusa: Different Perspectives
by Mammon Grey
Summary: The RivenxDarcyxMusa triangle, seasons 1-3 through different eyes. "Her sisters couldn't know about the feelings she still held for him. But deep down in her seemingly black heart, she knew the truth. She loved him."
1. Season 1

**This fic basically follows the 4kids version, (dialogue, voices, etc.) except that Icy, Darcy, and Stormy are called "the Trix" (in the 4kids version they're just "those witches") and they are sisters. (As opposed to 4kids where they are just best friends. I think.) The inspiration and themes for this fic come from tears-in-rain's fics: "Brothers at Arms," "Band of Brothers," "Restless Nights and Revelations," and "His Strength, His Weakness." I highly, highly, highly, highly recommend all of them. They are AMAZING. (Particularly "Brothers at Arms" and "Band of Brothers"; they tell seasons 1 and 2 in the specialists' perspectives, as well as adding extra storylines. Seriously, they're the best Winx Club stories ever made. You'd be an idiot to pass them up.) So, yeah. Enjoy! **

--

Darcy rolled over onto her side and read the digital clock; 2:47 a.m. Her eyes widened in panic. She was late. Not good. Her sisters _hated _it when she was late. She sat up from her bed with a start and the bedsprings creaked. She began mentally cursing herself for her indiscretion; Riven would surely wake up now. Having been abandoned by his mother and forced to live on the streets, he had never been a deep sleeper; he was constantly wary of any kind of danger. And yes, as she suspected, Riven abruptly opened his eyes and jumped out of the bed.

"Darcy…?" He squinted, confused. "What're you doing up so late?" She sighed. She might as well tell him the truth; it wasn't like he could really do much while under her spell, anyway.

"I'm going to see my sisters." His eyes widened in realization.

"Oh." He looked at the time. "Babe, I've gotta get back to Red Fountain." Darcy felt a strange wave of panic wash over her.

"No!" She instinctively screamed. She then kicked herself for sounding so needy. Replacing her tone with a take-charge voice, she demanded. "Stay here, puppy dog."

He shook his head soundly. "Darcy, you _know _I want to stay, but I can't. I have to get back to Red Fountain before they notice I've been gone all night." Despite his reassurance, Darcy's unexplained distress hadn't tided over. And apparently, neither had his.

She frowned. This was bad. When she first started dating him (if you could call it that), she hadn't realized that Riven would be this tough to control. Her powerful mind-control spell started off at a moderate level, just in case; she had never dreamed that she'd have to increase it. After all, she'd never had to before. But Riven was wild, untamed, and had a fierce determination that she had never seen.

"Puppy dog," she began, her eyes turning purple, increasing the spell's power further, "you _will _listen to me."

She grinned in satisfaction when his eyes, in response, turned the same shade. By the time she stopped, the spark of defiance in his eyes had dulled.

"Sure, Darcy. Anything you say, babe." Her heart swelled, and she reeled back in horror. None of her other guys made her feel like this. Could he be a threat to her? Before she got the chance to dwell on the thought, she remembered the meeting. Her sisters would kill her! (Possibly literally.)

"I have to go." And with that, she darted out of her room, without even putting on her sun glasses and not bothering to close the door.

As she was running through the winding halls of the Cloud Tower castle, she cursed herself for her weakness. What was it about him? Maybe if she used her magic on herself, she could—

Her train of thought was interrupted by her arrival of her destination. (A.N. It sounds like the people that talk over the intercom on airplanes; I know. I couldn't think of a better way to put it.) She would have time to consider this later. Taking a deep breath, she undid the lock with her dark magic and tentatively opened the door, only to meet the glare of her two sisters, who were, of course, already there.

"Why are you late?" Icy sharply demanded.

"Yeah," Stormy's irritated voice piped up, "we've been waiting for, like, a half an hour already!" Darcy decided that the best way to confront with this was intimidation; to show them that she was in charge.

"Oh, stop your witching. I had to deal with Riven." Icy growled:

"You know, he's really turning out to be a loser. But don't worry." She grinned wickedly with malice in her voice, along with a touch of insanity. "You won't need him for much longer." Darcy froze.

"Huh?" She kicked herself for sounding like an idiot.

"When we get the ultimate power, we won't need him anymore," Icy replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Darcy would've been embarrassed if she wasn't so busy trying to figure out why she suddenly felt loss. '_Well,_'she figured, _'best to act now while I still have time and ponder later._'

"Oh, I don't know," Darcy said, trying to sound dismissive, "we could probably find _some _use for him."

"Nah, why bother? We'll have the whole world at our feet," Stormy relished. "We can make anyone do anything."

Icy cackled in response, and Darcy pretended to go along with it, even though she knew it wouldn't be that easy. Controlling people's wants and needs and making them your own was difficult; she would know. But they didn't.

Stormy, because of her power over…well, storms (their parents obviously weren't very creative when naming either of her sisters) had always had a bad temper, and thus their parents were constantly running around, trying desperately to make her happy.

While not very smart (to say the least), she was undeniably powerful, and that was all anyone (except perhaps that _annoying _Miss Griffin) cared about.

As opposed to her sister, Icy was extremely clever, but she was also far colder and more ruthless; her heart, unlike Stormy's fiery, impulsive one, was frozen solid. The spoiled ice princess got whatever she wanted…or else. That was the unwritten rule.

Meanwhile, Darcy was far more subtle than the other two. Controlling darkness, she would stealthily slip into the shadows, unnoticed. "Unnoticed" would be the key word. She was a wallflower, and because of that she never got any attention; not from her parents, teachers, sisters, classmates…no one.

Her sisters wouldn't know how to make people see things their way, because they never had to. They never had to negotiate for anything; they just got whatever they wanted, and they assumed that once they took control that no one would rebel, that everyone would simply do whatever they told them to do. Darcy was not so foolhardy.

"Come on, ladies," Icy commanded in an all-business tone of voice, "let's conjure up the Whithspearian Crystals." (A.N. I have absolutely no clue if I spelled that right.)

Darcy sighed. It wasn't that she didn't want to dominate everyone; she was all for that, but right then her powers were drained from trying to control Riven.

Riven.

There was that foreign feeling again.

'_Wait a minute_,' her mind clicked, '_this sounds like_…' no, it couldn't be. But then, what else…

_No_. There had to be another explanation. She couldn't actually _love _him…

…Could she?

…Well, even if she did, it didn't matter. She knew that her sisters would never approve. They'd destroy her. Focusing the scarce amount of power she had left, she summoned the dark crystal.

Their mission, what they had worked their entire _lives_ for, was more important than her feelings. Those would have to be put on hold.

Like Always.

Riven sighed. Darcy went off with her sisters, _again, _leaving him all alone. God, sometimes he really couldn't stand her.

Still, for some unfathomable reason, he liked Darcy. So why did this keep happening?

'_It's not important_,' he convinced himself. '_I just need to get back to Red Fountain._'

But he couldn't go. Darcy had ordered him not to, and he trusted her. Well, kind of.

But then again, what was really waiting for him back at Red Fountain, anyway? Those annoying classes, his ex-friends…

His ex-friends. God, were they annoying! He couldn't believe that he'd ever thought they were cool.

Timmy's know-it-all attitude, Brandon's idiocy, Sky's annoying moral compass, they were all so…so…

For some reason, he was finding it difficult to think; the words in his head were slurred. Definitely disorienting, and foreign up until just a bit ago. Well, he considered honestly, it was true that he'd changed a lot over the past few months, but...

...but...

For a brief moment, Riven won over the spell, if not just a little bit. It was enough, though, to see that just maybe Darcy wasn't that great, and that just maybe he was treating his friends cruelly, not to mention Musa...

...Musa...

And just as quickly as the moment came, it went.

'_I have to stay here,_' was now the only thought that ran through Riven's mind. His eyes wandered to Darcy's bedside table, and saw Darcy's hippie-styled sun glasses sitting uselessly on it. Temptation rose again.

'_I'm sure Darcy would want this,_'he reasoned with himself. '_She probably wouldn't be mad if I just got up to give it to her…_'

'_No,_'another side of him interrupted. '_She told you to stay here for a reason. And besides, if she really wanted it, she'd have come back for it._'

Riven had to admit that that was a good point. Regardless, he would find _some _reason to give it to her. He refused to allow himself to stay there all night, no matter how much he liked her.

But then, if he didn't want to be there, why wasn't he just getting up and leaving, like he used to? Since when did he ever listen when people told him to do something? Never.

…Then why was he listening now?

It was a puzzling question that he, for a second, didn't know the answer to. So far, all they had really done was get into outrageous, almost violent fights that made the Cloud Tower Witches freeze for several minutes and stare at them in awe, and then they'd make-up and, as a result, have make-up sex. Like last night, for example. Was that normal? He was almost positive that it wasn't.

But that new side of him that he hadn't known existed until a few months ago, the one that had gotten him into so much trouble, refused to acknowledge that.

'_You're listening to her because you like her,_'was the ever-persistent voice's sound answer. Even though that didn't seem quite right to him, he didn't have the energy to argue with himself further, so he went back to trying to figure out an excuse to bring Darcy her glasses.

'_She was distracted,_'he finally came up with. '_She didn't want to be late to that meeting._'

He nodded, content with his explanation. Content enough, anyway.

Grabbing the glasses, he finally walked out of the room, but only made it two steps before walking back in. For once, he decided that he was going to let his guard down. Maybe that voice was right; maybe what he had with Darcy was something different; after all, no matter how much they fought, they always come back to each other. If this was going to work, he had to start trusting her more.

Eventually, he fell back asleep, and dreamt of good times with his friends and Musa's navy blue eyes were watching him kindly. When he woke up the next morning, he couldn't remember what exactly it was he was dreaming of, but did remember it being the best night's sleep he'd had in a while.

"Hey," Brandon (the real Brandon; they've switched their names back already) said casually to Timmy, "did you notice that Riven wasn't there today in strategy and battle class?"

Timmy frowned, his voice clearly displeased, "Yeah. I did."

"Come to think about it, he's been doing that a lot lately." Timmy sighed. Sometimes the squire could be a little slow on the uptake.

"Yeah, he has."

"Who has been doing what?" Prince Sky asked, setting his tray down next to theirs. They always sat together at lunch. At one point, so did Riven. But these days, he was nowhere to be found.

"Riven," Timmy answered. "We were saying how he hasn't been around much lately."

"That's true," Sky agreed slowly, careful to stay neutral on the subject.

Brandon, however, felt no reason to be.

"Yeah. That jerk." His remark earned him a pointed stare from Timmy and a blank face from Sky. "What?" He shrieked, directing his opinion at Timmy. "Lately he's been a first-class bitch!"

"I know that, but that doesn't mean we should just give up on him!" Timmy protested heatedly.

"Sure it does," Brandon argued, "right Sky?" The ladder, in return, threw him an annoyed look.

"Let's just change the subject," Sky intervened.

"No!" Both yelled at him, simultaneously.

"Dude, I am _really _getting sick of you being so annoyingly peaceful!" (A.N. My friend and I used to always get into feuds, and my other friend was the way that Sky is. We called her "annoyingly peaceful," too.) Brandon exploded. "Just pick a side, already!"

"Yeah?" Sky countered. "Well _I'm _sick of you guys arguing about Riven!"

"Why?"

"Because," he hissed in response, "what happens with Riven happens, and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't like it anymore than you, but it's the truth."

"No, it's not!" Timmy exclaimed, finding his voice again. "There's got to be _something _we can do!"

Sky's eyes softened a little at his friend's loyal declaration.

"Fine," Sky finally relented. "If you can figure out what's gotten into him, then go for it." Timmy smiled. "But," he warned, "if you _don't_ find anything then you're gonna have to let this go, Timster, no matter how much you don't want to." He sighed and quietly added, "No matter how much _we _don't want to."

Timmy nodded solemnly.

"I know. But don't worry; I will find something. I'm sure of it."

Hours later at Alfea, when the stars shone brightly in the night sky, Musa was lying on her bed, thinking. Not about Riven, of course. Why would she be thinking about him, anyway? It wasn't like she liked him or anything…

…right?

She shook it off. Of _course _right. Why would she like an arrogant, chauvinist jerk? There was nothing remotely appealing about him.

Musa sighed, hoping that if she told herself that enough times, she'd believe it. Or, at the very least everyone else would believe it.

She slammed her fist on her pillow, frustrated. Why did she let herself like him in the first place?

Then, she got an idea. Maybe, if she faced this honestly and went through the reasons why, she could finally forget about him and go to sleep. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

She took a deep breath.

Well, first off, he was honest. Yes, that could make him a jerk sometimes, but he always said what he thought; didn't feel awkward about being himself. He knew that he wasn't rich like most of the people at Red Fountain, and instead of being ashamed of it and attempting to be something he wasn't coughBrandoncough, he freely admitted it. He understood that it would leave him open for taunts, and he didn't care. He was proud.

And he was smart. Probably smarter than all of them, in fact, except maybe Timmy. Not just smart, though; street smart. He understood how things worked outside of a computer. He was clever, witty. He could have been better than all of them, if given half the chance.

Plus, he was…well, no, not cute…you couldn't really describe Riven as _cute_…he was hot. Yes, much more fitting. And speaking of fit, boy was he ever! He had more muscle than the other guys, no doubt because he had to do way more hard labor than they did as a kid. Oh, and that was another thing. He was a survivor, a fighter. You could tell from the scars on his back.

…Not that she'd ever seen him without a shirt on; she heard about the scars from one of the other Red Fountain guys. She wasn't saying that she didn't want to see him shirtless, but…

She stopped herself. That would never happen in a million years.

All of a sudden, Musa's breath got quivery.

Well, _this _idea had sure worked out great. She was almost crying; even more upset and restless than she'd been before.

Sniffling and wiping her unshed tears, she went to plan b; pulling out her iPod and listening to sad songs to try and mend her broken heart over the end of a relationship that never existed.


	2. Season 2

Darcy couldn't believe it.

She and her sisters had spent _months _swallowing their precious pride, serving as Lord Darkar's _errand girls_ to get their hands on all four pieces of the Codex to unleash the Shadowfire—which they did, might she add, with amazing finesse—while he just sat back and enjoyed the show with that crystal ball of his. And then, after all of their work, he tells them that the Shadowfire is _not enough_?

_Apparently, _he needed "both the powers of darkness and light." Which meant the Dragonfire. Which meant Bloom, who they now needed to kidnap.

She couldn't believe it. The Trix had had the ability to conquer all of Magix—the entire magical dimension, even—with just the Dragonfire last year. He actually needed _two_ of the greatest powers in the universe? How incredibly lame was that?

She told her older sister what she'd been thinking, who agreed; in fact, Icy had been thinking the same thing for quite a while then. However, she thought that it would be best if they stayed and completed the mission. Reluctantly, Darcy agreed. As much as she hated having to work with—much less serve under—this weakling, she understood that there just weren't a lot of options.

Stormy, however, didn't. "Wait, I don't get it," she'd said. "Why can't we just take over? We've got enough power to beat him." Icy let out a huff of frustration and her countenance twisted in irritation. Darcy couldn't blame her; she, herself, was holding back an annoyed sigh. Her little sister's impulsive nature, one-track mind and overall lack of intelligence could, at times, prove to be extremely aggravating.

"_Because_," Icy answered impatiently, "we need Darkar in order to get the Ultimate Power—none of us knows how to open the portal to Relix."

Stormy looked as though she had another point to make, but—for once—held her tongue. Even _she_ knew not to test Icy's mood right then.

So instead they continued with the plan Icy so proudly concocted to influence the wildlife nearby into leading the Twinx **(1)** and hero wannabes into the invisible net traps that they set up. Then, once they were caught, she and her sisters would kill all of them except Bloom, whom they'd take to Lord Darkar. It was a good plan; well thought-through…except for one part that she couldn't quite figure out how to execute.

Killing a certain moody, cherry-haired specialist. Riven.

Her sisters couldn't know about the feelings she still held for him. But deep down in her seemingly black heart, she knew the truth. She loved him.

But with things the way they were then, with who _she _was, all she could afford to do was push her feelings deeper into the hollow abyss where she had discarded all other emotions of that nature so long ago.

Still, it seemed that this emotion was more difficult to silence. Yet, she would not—_could _not—give in. Not just her pride, but her entire _life _was on the line. This would be the ultimate test—could she kill Riven? If she succeeded, she'd know that she was set for life. If she failed, her life was over.

However, her test was abruptly canceled—_more like postponed,_ she corrected grimly—when their plan failed.

Ironically, it was Riven who had saved the day—eavesdropping on her sisters and discovering the location of the traps.

The change in plans made her sisters understandably frustrated—not that Darcy _wasn't_, but she was really more anxious than frustrated. If she didn't confront Riven today, she feared that the next time they met she wouldn't be feeling so decisive.

"These beasts are worthless! We need better monsters than these idiot glups," Stormy ranted as they assembled the creatures put in charge of capturing the fairies. "They can't even capture one little fairy!"

"Stormy's right, Darcy; they got out-witted by a bunch of magic-less fairies," Icy chimed in; now talking to Darcy like the whole thing was _her _idea. Typical.

"Look at these drooling lugs! We need some kick-butt monsters that we can ride and control better," Stormy decided. "Like those Dragodons over there."

Darcy suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to slap her sister. Pretending that this was her fault and taking charge like she was so smart. _Please_.

Still, she knew that attacking her wouldn't help the mission, so she easily took control over the Dragodons as she had the other beasts, though was almost unable to control herself when Icy asked, "Darcy, do you think you can work your mind control on _those _things?" Even more so when Stormy cheered, "It worked!" afterwards.

"Of course it did!" Darcy snapped, trying to rein in her anger. No need to do something stupid when she was about to face one of the most difficult challenges she'd ever come across.

She called the fearsome creatures over and the Trix immediately got on their backs. But before they set off, Darcy needed to make one thing very clear. "Listen, Stormy! Keep your Dragodon away from Riven!" her voice boomed, sounding unintentionally protective. She needed to do this herself.

Unfortunately, Stormy didn't take the warning like she'd hoped. "Don't _tell _me you still have feelings for that broody little lug!" she exclaimed, her tone accusatory.

'_Yes._'"No, gross! I just want to be the one to end the loser, that's all." She was only half lying.

In the end, though, no one was killed, due to Timmy's tactics. The Trix were defeated without really getting the chance to fight.

"We _had _them!" Icy roared, frightening away the nearby Dragodons as they recuperated before returning to Darkar.

"Ugh!" Stormy screamed, stomping her feet and acting altogether like a child throwing a temper-tantrum.

Meanwhile, Darcy leaned against a tree in contemplative silence, wondering how much trouble it was on a scale of one to ten that a small part of her was happy with the outcome.

Riven let out a breath of exhilaration and grinned. And to think that he'd thought that this assignment to escort the Winx to the Resort Realm would be painfully boring.

Well, okay, he had to admit that the majority of it actually had been. I mean, really. Watching the girls _shop_? _This _was what they'd been reduced to?

But even shopping had been preferable to listening to them prattle on about their petty problems. Stella was the worst of all; she wouldn't _shut up_ about how unfair the lack of luxury was. Hah! She thought _this _was bad? She should trying living where _he _grew up. Maybe then she'd finally get a needed dose of reality.

At that point, the only good thing was that the "no socializing" rule so kindly set up by Red Fountain had created the perfect excuse to avoid conversation with the Jinx Club **(2)** (but mostly Musa), which he knew would get him into trouble, and he really didn't want that after everything he did last year.

Unfortunately, his plan to avoid them wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, which was why he was currently in the middle of the forest after suffering through one of the most painful hours of his life (and that was saying something) listening to the girls go on and on about their _feelings._

Thank _God_ for Tecna. If she hadn't interrupted, telling the girls that she was tired of the conversation and asking if they could please move on, he might have exploded.

"You girls talk way too much about your little emotions," he'd told them. Well, it was the truth. Who really cared that much about how they felt? Why couldn't they just acknowledge it and move on?

Musa, however, seemed to disagree, and followed him into the forest, which was definitely the wrong move. Couldn't she see that all he wanted was to be left alone? So he brushed her off. He couldn't deal with this now, especially not so soon after Darcy.

Darcy—aka his slap in the face. He already didn't trust women due to his mother's abandonment, and then she came along with the sole purpose, it seemed, to prove him right.

And low and behold, who does he find after following some strange footprints but the object of his thoughts—Darcy, looking as-ever, with her sisters setting invisible net traps as he found out after some eavesdropping.

After a while of being lost in thought, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Musa's. Why was she back? He was pretty sure she had gotten the message to leave him alone.

Well, he supposed it was good that she was there. That way he could explain to her what was going on. He suddenly felt ashamed—he had been so lost in thought that he forgot to warn anybody that the Trix were here and put everyone in danger. What kind of a specialist was he?

It was now or never, which was concerning because his close contact with Musa was making his brain go a bit fuzzy...

He did manage to tell her all of the information, though. Okay, so he was a bit daft in not realizing at first that someone had to stay behind and figure out where the traps were—still not bad, considering how intoxicated he was by her presence.

He thought he was through the awkwardness.

Then she said it.

"Oh, and also I like you. A lot." All he could do was stare at her, dumfounded. Where did _that_ come from? This was way off script for them. He frowned, trying to summon any lines to say. He was totally unprepared.

Of course, he always knew that they had chemistry but deep down he never really believed that she liked him—after all, why would she? He'd been nothing but rude to her—or, in the Darcy days, worse—since they met. This insecurity was strengthened by the fact that she never said she liked him—even after he told her that he did, although that didn't really count. It was way too lame.

"Don't panic, you don't have to tell me how much you like me," she continued, "you can do it later."

She finished it off with a wink, and then left.

Holy shit.

But after a few minutes of letting it sink in, he couldn't help but grin. He just might do it later, in his own little way. She'd get the message; she was getting better at reading him.

Avoidance just didn't seem to be working.

"Riven!" Musa shouted as she ran after him into the forest.

Brandon sighed. "Damn," he cursed—mainly to himself, but Sky and Timmy heard anyway.

"Brandon, language," Timmy reminded him. He could've sworn he had seen Sky smirk out of the corner of his eye, but he let it slide.

"I know, I know. I just can't stand sitting back and watching Riven screw up," he explained. They all looked down silently. Everyone knew Riven's lack of skill when it came to discussing how he felt—and, therefore, relationships. On the other hand, only Brandon (and maybe Helia, if he were there) would dare to bring it up, for fear of Riven's occasionally violent mood swings.

"Well, I don't see how there's anything we can do about that," Timmy finally said, always the voice of reason. "I mean, it's his problem—and you know how stubborn he is. He won't want us to help him."

"I don't know..." Brandon trailed off hopelessly. Sky and Timmy looked at each other in silent communication. They understood that he just wanted to look out for Riven. They _all_ did after how stupid they were last year, letting him fall into the hands of witches and failing to notice the signs that he was under a spell—even though he was their best friend. Everybody, Riven included, blamed themselves for that fiasco.

But talking to Riven was like talking to a brick wall. They couldn't convince him that it wasn't really his fault and that distancing himself from them—and Musa—wasn't what anyone wanted.

"Hey, wait a minute!" the boys could see the metaphoric light bulb going off in Sky's head. "If you can't talk to Riven, maybe you can get through to Musa."

Immediately, the glow from Sky's light bulb illuminated all of them.

"Yeah!" Brandon exclaimed. "You're right! Thanks, bro." He and Musa had always been close. She was the Winx Club member he'd talk to when he felt like everyone was against him. Now he'd be the Specialist she'd talk to when she felt like Riven was against her. Without a second thought, he ran into the forest.

Eventually, he caught up with her. "I thought you could use an interpreter. For Riven," he told her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked incredulously, which he didn't even give a response to. Who did she think she was fooling?

"When he starts saying 'what's so great about talking about feelings?' it's all Riven talk for 'please stop talking about feelings. They scare me,'" he explained. He put up a valiant effort, and won, to resist laughing out loud at the thought of Riven actually saying that. Still, however far off the words might have been from what he actually said, that was what he meant. Pretty much, anyway.

"Why can't he just say that, then?" Again, Brandon found himself under temptation—this time, to respond with "Because he's Riven." That truly was the only answer he could think of to the question. He knew that Musa wouldn't like that answer, though, so instead he used truthful misdirection.

"It's not that different than you always playing it cool."

"Me? I don't do that; I'm upfront."

'_Well, you put up a front,_' he thought. _'Close enough._' He couldn't resist cracking smile at that one.

"Have you ever just told Riven you like him?"

"Well, not directly, but—"

"Then what's stopping you? I think he went that way." He motioned to the path next to him. Her eyes narrowed and she laughed tensely, clearly nervous and unwilling, but she followed the path he was gesturing to anyway. She really didn't have much of a choice—she couldn't admit she was scared.

The second he was sure she was safely out of earshot, he burst out laughing. Why was it that dysfunctional relationships were so damn funny? (A.N. So true. Ever heard Dane Cook's "The Nothing Fight"? If not, you really should—it's hilarious.)

Later, as the Trix stampeded along the path they believed lead to Bloom, Sky was hiding in a nearby bush, as instructed, anxious to see the outcome of their plan. "Just keep going, ladies," he muttered to himself. It would be a while until he moved, though, which gave him time to think.

He wished that he had gotten time to ask Brandon how his talk with Musa had gone, but it seemed that in five seconds everything had been turned upside-down and suddenly they were under attack with little to no magic on their side.

He glanced over at Riven. Did he _want_ Musa to think he was a total jerk? Sometimes Sky just didn't understand the ex-thief.

No sooner than he completed this thought had Riven grabbed a running Musa by the wrist and pulled her behind the tree where he was positioned. Sky's eyes bugged out of his head. He strained to hear the conversation being held.

"I thought I could use some backup," was Riven's weak excuse that, Sky was sure, was intended to be weak.

"_Right_," Musa replied sarcastically, clearly not believing him. They shared a wry, knowing grin.

In the bushes, Sky displayed a similar grin. _'Brandon,' _he thought fervently, _'you are a _genius!_'_

Riven could be so _frustrating_!

She had thought—or she had _hoped_, anyway—that they were making progress. Then he barely talks to her for the entire first part of the trip, says no when she asks him to dinner (_she_ asks _him_!), disses her friends ("You girls talk way too much about your _little emotions_."), and then brushes her off when she confronts him about it! _Un_believable!

And Brandon said she wasn't being upfront! She asked him to dinner, didn't she?

"_Have you ever just told Riven you like him?"_

No. Hmm...let's think, what reasons might she have for not doing that? Oh, gosh, this is a tough one...

I mean, really, Brandon was a good guy, but who did he think he was?

She was just about to turn around and abandon her quest to tell Riven her feelings, but something stopped her.

After all, he didn't _exactly_ say no, he just said that they weren't allowed to socialize, which was true, and he said that he thought her hat was cute (which she _did_ promptly throw in his face).

Still, he demeaned her feelings—(her "_little emotions_")—like they meant nothing. So what did that say about how much he cared about her feelings for him?

But then, she couldn't forget his hurried confession to her last year. It was actually kind of funny. It was also the most upfront she'd ever seen him. (Though he lost points because he bolted afterwards and never mentioned it again.)

So maybe he _did_ care, and all the rest was just "Riven talk."

After all, the worst of it had been last year (leaving her to be cornered by the witches), and he had been under a spell then.

She had to admit, it had been a little hard to trust him at first, but eventually it sunk in. She could tell that he really was sorry. Stella said that he had even apologized to Sky and Brandon when they were on that mission to Cloud Tower. He was upfront then, when it really mattered.

And now it mattered for her. She had to tell him.

And she did, even if it was a little bit random and uncomfortable. ("Oh and also I like you. A lot. Don't panic, you don't have to tell me how much you like me. You can do it later.")

Later, when her awkward confession to Riven seemed far behind her due to the Trix's sudden invasion, as she was running with her friends to get ready for their assault he pulled her aside and to the ground.

"I thought I could use some backup." Okay, so it wasn't what she had in mind when she said that he could tell her how much he liked her later. But she realized that with Riven you always have to read in between the lines. Obviously he didn't need backup; Timmy planned it so that he didn't.

"_Right_." She gave him a wry grin which he returned, and her heart skipped a beat.

She had finally reached an understanding. He was emotionally stunted; unlike the other guys, he could only meet her halfway. So she had to do some walking to reach him. But in that moment, feeling as euphoric as she did from only a grin, she couldn't help but think the extra steps were worth it.

And aside from love, another feeling, almost as satisfying, was alive in her veins—progress.

**(1)** Twinx is not a type-o—it's a nickname that Darcy has for the Winx. (It's mentioned in the 4kids version—season 3 episode 18, "A Day at the Museum." When Darcy, Baltor, and the rest of the Trix see the Winx, Darcy says, "Those Twinx are here!" Hero wannabes is also a nickname mentioned, actually in this arc in the 4kids version. (Season 2 episode 21, "Trouble in Paradise," Darcy is talking to the creatures of the forest to turn them against the Winx and says, "You have intruders in your forest! Fairies and hero wannabes…"…How sad is it that I didn't need to check for anything in that explanation? XD

**(2)** Jinx Club is, again, not a type-o, but a nickname. This time not from the show, but a story I read—Zadien's "Black Mud Swamp." I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a MusaxRiven pending four-shot that's so in-character I could cry. No joke.

**Okay, guys, PLEASE REVIEW! I only got two for the first chapter, and I didn't update for 14 months. (Again, REALLY sorry about that!) Still, if you read this, please at least let me know how it was. C'mon, it'll only take a few seconds! Please?**


End file.
